- Field Guides:
Mcmullan, M., Donegan, T and Quevedo, A. Field Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Newest field guide for Colombia available. Very portable and includes migratory species.
Hilty, S. L. and W. L. Brown. Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 1986. A classic and your best source for Colombia bird identification. Fine source of information on voice, behavior, breeding and status and habitat, range maps for almost all species.
Restall, R., C. Rodner, and M. Lentino. Birds of Northern South America. Vol. 2. Plates and maps. Christopher Helm, London. More up-to-date taxonomy and very different color plate style, but similar in size and weight, to previous book. Covers seven countries (over 7000 images) which complicates field use because of large number of illustrations.
- Natural History:
Hilty, Steven. Birds of Tropical America: A Watcher’s Introduction to Behavior, Breeding and Diversity. University of Texas Press, 2005. Highly recommended for background information on how things work in bird communities in tropical latitudes.
Kricher, John C. A Neotropical Companion. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989. Excellent broad-based resource on just about everything from plants and birds to insects, herps and mammals in the Neotropics.
Snow, David. The Web of Adaptation: Bird Studies in the American Tropics. Quadrangle, New York Times Book Co.: Demeter Press, 1976. A classic. Deals with fruit-eating birds and their adaptations in the American tropics.
Natural History Recordings
Alvarez, M., V. Caro, O. Laverde and A. M. Cuervo. Guía sonora de las aves de los Andes Colombianos (A Guide to the Bird Sounds of the Colombian Andes). CD discs 1-7. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. 2007. Good source for bird sound recordings for the Andes of Colombia (over 600 species). Songs are not introduced at beginning of each track (follow with booklet)
- Travel Guides:
National Geographic Traveler: Colombia, 2nd Edition Paperback – January 3, 2017
by Christopher Baker (Author)
Lonely Planet Colombia (Travel Guide)
Colombia (National Geographic Adventure Map) Map – Folded Map, August 31, 2012
Moon Cartagena & Colombia’s Caribbean Coast (Moon Handbooks) Paperback – October 25, 2016 by Andrew Dier (Author)
Colombian Literature:
Gabriel García Márquez, Gregory Rabassa (Translator). Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Oct 7, 2003
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera. Oprah’s Book Club, Oct 5, 2007
Gabriel García Márquez . Of Love and Other Demons. Vintage International, June 10, 2008
Understanding Colombia:
Colombia a Comedy of Errors
by Victoria Kellaway and Sergio J Lievano (Author)
Colombia: A Concise Contemporary History 2nd Edition
by Michael J. LaRosa (Author), Germán R. Mejía (Author), Pamela S. Murray (Foreword)
Colombia: Spanish Travel Phrases for English Speaking Travelers: The most useful 1.000 phrases to get around when traveling in Colombia Paperback – September 2, 2015
by Sarah Retter (Author)
Colombian Art & Music
The Baroque World of Fernando Botero Hardcover – February 20, 2007
by John Sillevis (Author),
Music, Race, and Nation: Musica Tropical in Colombia, Aug 1, 2000
by Peter Wade
The City of Musical Memory: Salsa, Record Grooves and Popular Culture in Cali
by Lise A. Waxer
Artefactos: Colombian Crafts from the Andes to the Amazon Hardcover – April 15, 1992
by Benjamin Villegas (Author
Mil Besos: 1000 Kisses
by Ruven Afanador (Author), John Galliano
Torero Hardcover – November 1, 2001
by Ruven Afanador
POR AMOR A LA MUSICA (Spanish Edition)Nov 15, 2007
by Kike Santande
Atavios: The Roots of Colombian Fashion
by Benjamin Villegas
For Children (& perfect gifts):
Biblioburro: A True Story from Colombia Hardcover – June 8, 2010
by Jeanette Winter (Author, Illustrator)
My Name is Gabito
Juana and Lucas Hardcover – September 27, 2016
by Juana Medina (Author, Illustrator)
Cooking & Food Books:
Secrets of Colombian Cooking, Expanded Edition, Aug 1, 2012
by Patricia McCausland-Gallo
Permission to Slurp: The Insider’s Guide to Tasting Specialty Coffee in Colombia
by Karen Attman
Travel Writing about Colombia:
Dancing Feat: One Man’s Mission to Dance Like a Colombian
by Neil Bennion
Walking the Amazon: 860 Days. One Step at a Time. Paperback – August 28, 2012
by Ed Stafford
Was Gabo an Irishman?: Tales from Gabriel García Márquez’s Colombia Kindle Edition
by Victoria Kellaway (Editor), Richard McColl (Editor)
Books on Photography:
On Photography by Susan Sontag
The Photographer’s Eye: Composition and Design for Better Photos by Michael Freeman
Photo:
Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus). Valle del Cauca. © Juan Jose Arango/VWPics
